Early mornings

When we open the magnificent gates in the morning, we often feel like we’re disturbing a private wildlife party. Flocks of doves, pairs of magpies, panicked bunnies and easy-going squirrels all seem to congregate around the driveway. The cows from the farmer blink lazily at you as you pass and the odd jay nips out of view.

Gaggles of pheasants scurry away, crossing right in front of you. A visiting white cat looks perturbed as you are interrupting its hunting plans. The heron flies low across the grass, and if you’re really, really lucky, you might see a deer from the corner of your eye. They particularly like being up on the Mount for some reason too. On occasion you will see the remnants of a party that our local birds of prey have had… and this morning, a magnificent buzzard took off as we drove in.

How lucky are we to have this as a working environment. How fortunate for you that it is on your doorstep. The parkland is a County Biological Heritage Site and a Grade II Registered Historic Park and we take our natural and man-made heritage very seriously.

We are fortunate to have the support of the Forestry Commission under a five year agreement to improve the management of the parkland, which will create better habitats for wildlife, as well as us humans.